Nov. 30, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Leading 40-33 at the half, 10th-ranked Kentucky stormed out of the locker room with an 18-3 run en route to a 91-57 victory over the Boston University men's basketball team on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
The Wildcats (5-1) went a blistering 8-for-10 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes after starting the game 2-for-6, while the Terriers (4-4) finished the game under 30 percent shooting for the second time in four contests.
Senior John Holland posted a team-high 20 points to increase his career total to 1,703 points, while also leading BU in rebounds with seven. Juniors Matt Griffin and Darryl Partin were the other two in double figure scoring with 13 and 11, respectively. Finishing at 28.6 percent from the field, BU kept the first half close by going 10-for-11 at the charity stripe and also enticing the Wildcats into eight turnovers.
In the second half, UK took better care of the ball and hit 63 percent of its attempts to improve to 3-0 all-time against the Terriers in the first meeting since a 90-49 win in 1994. Terrence Jones posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Josh Harrellson had one of his own off 12 points and 11 rebounds. Brandon Knight led all scorers with 23 points and also had six assists with six rebounds. Doron Lamb was the fourth Wildcat in double figures with 13 points and five assists.
Following a layup by Jones to start the game, Holland went on a 5-0 run after hitting all three free throws and then swiping Knight for a fast break layup at 18:23. Partin tied the game with a jumper at 15:53, at which point the Wildcats took the lead for good with six straight points.
DeAndre Liggins' made free throw at 10:56 put UK ahead 21-12, but the Terriers remained resolute and cut the deficit to 24-21 on an alley-oop pass from Griffin to Holland at 6:47. Facing another nine-point deficit three minutes later following a layup by Liggins, BU had a chance to move within two but missed two attempts on the same possession in the final minute. Jones hit a jumper to give UK the 40-33 lead before the buzzer sounded.
To start the second, the Wildcats scored the first 12 points before Partin ended the drought at 16:57 with a 3-pointer. The athletic, bigger UK squad was relentless with its defensive pressure and went on a roll offensively in front of 21,684 screaming fans, who hadn't seen their team since Nov. 12. The Terriers only made six trips to the line and hit just eight field goals.
Improving to 6-0 all-time against America East schools, UK finished with a 41-31 advantage in rebounds and had 21 assists against 13 turnovers, while the Terriers had eight assists and 14 turnovers.
BU will remain on the road and next play at Bucknell on Saturday (Dec. 4) with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. The Terriers have won the previous two meetings, including a 71-68 overtime win at Soljka Pavilion in 2008.
#10/11 Kentucky vs. Boston Lexington, Ky. -- Rupp Arena Nov. 30, 2010 Post-Game Quotes
Boston Head Coach Patrick Chambers Opening statement
"All I can say is that must have been one heck of a halftime speech. I'm going to have to ask him for a copy of that. We played pretty hard for 20 minutes, and then their talent, their strength between them I mean they're really talented and Coach Cal's a great coach. We were hoping to just hang and hang as long as we could. And that spurt in the first five minutes (of the second half) was just crushing, absolutely crushing. I'm proud of our kids, I didn't think they stopped competing and they didn't stop playing. That's what you always teach; don't hang your head, just keep competing, keep playing hard, keep playing through adversity and there was a ton of it out there tonight with the fans and the made 3s, and, you know, balls not going your way, bouncing the other way and missing shots. But that's credit to Kentucky. It's obvious in that second half they were still thinking about UConn. They came out and really stuck it to us and that's what great teams do and that's why they're ranked as high as they are. I give them all the credit in the world, and this is going to be a great experience for our team. And down the road, the next time we're in a venue like this, we're going to learn from it and we're going to play a little bit better and maybe steal it. Again, all the credit in the world to Kentucky. I'm proud of my guys, I thought we competed, we're just not as talented."
On the momentum building 3-point baskets and the effect they can have for a team.
"It's crushing. As soon as you see the first one go in it just starts to open up. If at first it was a golf hole, now it starts to open up to a nice big ocean. And they were finding the bottom of the net and we weren't. That was a huge momentum change. But they took good shots, they were good, open uncontested 3s, and when you're shooting uncontested 3s they're going to go in. And on the other end, we're shooting contested 3s so we have to work hard. We have a lot of work to do. We're a work in progress and our margin for error is very small, but we're going to get there."
On John Holland for Boston cooling off after a hot start
"I just think he ran out of steam. He played a lot of minutes and those guys are big and they're strong and they wore us down. That's what happens when you're on our level, you can try and do all the lifting in the preseason and the offseason but it's never going to be to this level. Hopefully we'll get there someday."
